ii AT NAIROBI 25 



When the day wore on and they did not appear, 

 we began to get concerned for their safety and 

 sent askaris (armed porters) all over the country to 

 look for them. As their safari had arrived with 

 ours at the meeting place, we knew that they would 

 be without food or shelter for the night, and this 

 caused us great anxiety, especially on Mrs. P.'s 

 account. While we were looking through our 

 glasses in the gathering dusk, scanning the country 

 for any sign of our friends, we spied a herd of 

 hartebeeste feeding towards a little hollow some 

 distance away. Mrs. S. immediately proposed a 

 stalk, so off we set without delay, and after 

 negotiating a river, crept on all-fours over some 

 rocky ground until we got fairly close to the herd. 

 Mrs. S. then crawled forward alone to the verge of 

 the hollow, and picking out in the gloom the best 

 head she could find, covered the beast with her rifle 

 and fired her first shot in East Africa. Instantly 

 there was a kick and a buck, a gallop for about fifty 

 yards, and then the beast fell with a crash, stone 

 dead. We all tendered our hearty congratulations 

 to the skilful shikari, and hoped that her success was 

 a good omen for our journey. 



